Coming from Donald J. Trump it was a remarkable speech, the measured tone, the presidential timbre … plus it offered something to everyone. Increased military expenditure of $54 billion to establishment Republicans, immigration controls to the Tea Party wing, tax cuts and a repeal of Obamacare for both, and the sop of family leave to the Democrats.

Thus went the address to a joint session of Congress. Now comes the hard part, the implementation. The first item on the agenda is likely to be healthcare. Yes, Obamacare has problems, but it has insured the poorest with government help — individuals who did not have insurance before. The insured seek help earlier encouraging preventive care and reducing expensive visits to hospital emergency rooms. If they do go, hospitals get paid assuring their support for Obamacare also. The Republican proposal to offer tax credits doesn’t help these people because their income is insufficient to rack up enough credits when they are paying very little in taxes. Will the Democrats put up a fight?

The U.S. spends more money on defense than the next eleven countries put together. Moreover, President Obama initiated a 20-year $1 trillion program to update nuclear weapons. What this and the proposed $54 billion will do is to increase pressure to cut social programs: education, government sponsored early childhood programs, aid to families who qualify, food stamps and so on. Simply put, defense, Social Security (pensions etc.) and Medicare i.e. healthcare insurance for the over 65 take up most of the budget and are impossible to cut given the politics, leaving social programs (not loved by Republicans) most vulnerable.

Martin Luther King Jr. called out three evils: racism, militarism and economic exploitation. In the near five decades since his passing, there has been much progress although economic segregation becomes tantamount to racial separation, and military adventurism is increasing. A shocking fact: Since independence in 1776, the U.S. has been in some sort of conflict in all but 17 years of its existence.

As it appears, the military spending increase is certainly more concrete than the (so far) abstract public-private investment in infrastructure, likely to take longer to reify. The trouble is military spending is the worst way to grow an economy. A simple example: If the military buys a smart bomb, what it does is make a several million dollar hole in the ground; if you buy a car, its maintenance adds to the local economy. Better still, educating your children increases their earning capacity , the GDP, and returns your investment many times over.

Such are the politics and policies in the U.S., the only industrialized advanced country not offering universal healthcare — hence the slogan ‘Medicare for All’ at rallies. As congressional battles are reported on, it won’t be long before the bloom is off the rose.

The press with one scalp to its credit, (Lt. General Mike Flynn) is after another. This time it is Jeff Sessions, the newly confirmed Attorney General. The fact is when asked during confirmation hearings (in the context of an election question) if he had met with any Russian officials during the election campaign, he answered ‘no’. Now a news leak duly checked out shows he met with the Russian ambassador twice. Mr. Sessions claims the meeting pertained to his job as senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee and had nothing whatsoever to do with the election so his answer was not incorrect. At the time, he says, he was a senator who had no inkling he would be considered for the job of attorney general. And there it stands, the situation hinging on whether the media frenzy gets a sympathetic ear from the public.

The Trump White House’s war with the press has heated up. It barred some major news organizations including CNN and the New York Times from a press event on a day when President Trump was using the charged words ‘enemy of the people’ to describe certain media outlets.

While the Trump campaign routinely barred certain news organizations from campaign rallies and other events, the circumstances become critically different when they concern the nation’s business and the White House, the people’s house. The stunt was condemned by almost everyone including, of all people, former President George W. Bush who was criticized and lampooned mercilessly by the press.

On a positive note, the $1 trillion proposed for infrastructure repair is sorely needed. Yet the amount necessary according to an estimate by the American Society of Civil Engineers is $3.6 trillion. The U.S. is also one of a few major industrial countries lacking a proper high-speed rail system. For now, that must remain a pipe dream …

Dr Arshad M Khan (http://ofthisandthat.org/index.html) is a former Professor whose comments over several decades have appeared in a wide-ranging array of print and electronic media. His work has been quoted in the U.S. Congress and published in the Congressional Record.

Related

Related

2 Comments

Trump is trying to demolish whatever little has been done during Obama regime for the welfare of the people. The programmes like Obamacare might have helped the people to some extent. But, even such policies are in danger of being shelved by Trump as he prepares to hike defence expenditure and continue war mongering strategy all over the world

“On a positive note, the $1 trillion proposed for infrastructure repair is sorely needed. The money is not to be provided- it will be a “public-private partnership ie to make profit for corporations, like all the other benefits from Trump.
“The U.S. spends more money on defense than the next eleven countries put together” NO, the USA spends NIL on defense, all on aggression.

Older Archive

Dear Countercurrents family (present and future)— 2017 was a tough year all around. Hot and cold wars continue, the environment further degrades and Trumpism/Putinism/Modiism reigns. One can get depressed- forlorn even- by the array of monsters to fight. Humanity in many ways appears to be stepping backwards, embracing narrow and racist nationalism, further eroding the rights of women, reveling in[Read More…]